Monday, May 12, 2008

Wouldn't it be cool to be part of an organization with no responsibility or accountability but plenty of authority to make pronouncements and edicts from on high? It would be suweeet! Heck, maybe that's what it's like to be a "community organizer", but I digress. The UN has come up with a new treaty for the disabled (but doesn't go on to define disabled):

The CRPD guarantees disabled people:

The right to make their own decisions

The right to say No to being placed in an institution

The right to say No to medical or psychological treatment

The right to live in the community

The removal of barriers to participation in daily life

Equal opportunities for all

So, let's just take an example: mental retardation from Down's Syndrome. So a mentally retarded child has a right to life. Does that mean that they can't be aborted? Once alive, the child gets to make his own decisions. He can say no to institutionalization. He can say no to medical treatment. He can have "equal opportunities". What does that mean?

The United Nations produced one more empty "treaty" to address a problem for which there is no solution. Disabilities cover a broad spectrum. A person born with no arm is disabled, but of course should have all the rights and responsibilities of a fully functional person. All disabled people deserve to be treated with respect but some are in no position to make decisions about their own care.

Will this treaty stop female (just being a female is a disability in some cultures) infanticide in India and China? Will this treaty end the abuse (and really disabled births because relatives marry) of disabled children throughout the Islamic culture? No and no. Will it make bureaucrats feel better? Yep. Should the United States sign this treaty? Hell no.